Today the clouds are dark and low to the ground. It has been raining with thunder and lightning since 2 a.m. I love weather like this.

Maybe because I always think of my beloved great grandmother when we have a thunderstorm. I was frightened, as most little children are, by the bright flashes and the rolling boom of the thunder.

Grandma Selma would take me on her lap and cuddle me and say, "Now it's time for us to stop our day and wait, and let the Lord get on with his work." We would sit and rock, and watch the storm out the kitchen window. It was so comforting, hearing her say that in her lovely Swedish accent, the depth of her faith and love coming through in every word.

I wonder if she knows how much I love her still and how I hear her voice and feel her arms around me, amidst the flash and rumble even now, decades later.